I have a phalaenopsis that I badly mistreated. I'd like to learn what I did wrong so I can do better next time, and also get any tips or advice about whether I can still save this little zombie.
I was gifted the phal in November and it was blooming. I didn't check the leaves/stem/roots at the time since I was distracted by the pretty flowers.
Looking at the photos it had five leaves originally. I put it in my bedroom which gets a bit of indirect sunlight. I have cats and the spike was very tall so I was limited to placing it high enough to be safe but not too high that it would smoosh the ceiling.
In California it doesn't get too cold, 60F maybe 50F minimum in the bedroom, but the temps may have fluctuated too much for the orchid since it was sitting near the ceiling where it could get hot/dry when I turned on the wall heater.
By end of December, of the five leaves, one young (top of stem) leaf had fallen off and three older (bottom of stem) leaves were wilting and turning yellow. I thought this was due to too much moisture trapped in the plastic pot - the sphagnum moss was perpetually moist - so I cut off the plastic and let the sphagnum moss dry out for about three weeks I think. I didn't replace the medium as I was daunted by the task.
Eventually, the yellow leaves fell off leaving my phal with only one leaf, but that leaf looked healthy and deep green. The last flower bud didn't bloom, it just turned off color and fell off, and some of the flowers also turned white in places.
When all the flowers had fallen off I cut the spike near the base.
Then on Feb 16th I decided I better take a look at the roots to make sure they're healthy enough for another spike to eventually grow. So I took out all the sphagnum moss on a whim, even though I didn't have any replacement medium on hand. It was packed super tight and was quite moist inside. There were tons of roots, many of them white with green tips, but many also had black squishy spots.
I noticed a dry husk around the stem/leaf base, which I peeled off to find some black areas. And I also noticed some black spots at the stem where it meets the roots.
I watched some YouTube videos and decided I should pick out the black spots, which I assumed was fungus, with tweezers. Unfortunately as I was performing Phal surgery, somehow I snapped the final leaf off the stem. It was super tragic and I cried.
But after some research I learned that green roots can still photosynthesize, so I didn't give up quite yet. I continued picking out all the black spots from the stem and roots, sprayed all the roots with hydrogen peroxide, and also sprinkled everything with cinnamon which I have now read should be kept off of the roots since it is a strong desiccant....
Since I didn't have any medium and since orchids are epiphytes, I thought I could get away without any medium. I kept the orchid root cluster in a covered glass vase for a day or two and the spike stub grew mold so I took it out and hung it from its stem.
I tried to keep the roots moist and fertilized, and its hung by a window now with lots of indirect sunlight, but I think the cinnamon has really dried everything out and I'm pretty doubtful that there is any hope left at all.
If anyone has some black magic or orchid CPR tricks, please let me know what my next move should be.
Otherwise I would very much appreciate any advice on how to address issues like the above next time. I've already adopted my next phal and I'd really like to be a better plant mom this time.
Any hope for my Phal with no leaves?
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